Indra, undoubtedly, is the chief deity in the
Rgveda. Almost a quarter of its hymns, is devoted to praising
him. He is the most important deity in the sky. Armed with the
thunderbolt (Vajrayudha) and riding in a chariot whose speed
exceeds that of the mind, he travels everywhere.
His valour is awe-inspiring. His exploits are many. He killed
the demon Vrtra and released the waters imprisoned by him. He
clipped the wings of the mighty mountains and made them behave.
He recovered the cows of the gods that had been abducted by the
demons. He is fond of Soma-drink. Being a war-lord, he became a
symbol of the royal power. Hence warriors worshipped him before
going to the battle-field.
Indra has often been equated with the Supreme God. His love and
affection for his devotees has been eulogized. Scholars opine
that Indra may: just represent the natural phenomenon of rain
being released from the dark clouds as a result of being
"bombarded by lightning and thunder"!
Indra's prestige gradually declined and he was relegated to a
secondary place by the Pural).as, retaining however, his place
as the king of gods.
In some of the temple sculptures, Indra is depicted in a human
form with four arms, riding the celestial elephant Airavata.
Rudra and Rudras: Rudra is the god who howls or roars. He is
terrible. He is tall and well-built. He has a long braided hair.
His body is brilliant and its colour merges with the colour of
the gold ornaments he wears. He wields the thunderbolt, bow and
arrow. He is the god of storms. Though he looks fierce and is
armed with terrible weapons, he is always benevolent and
merciful to humanity. He is the protector, the kind and loving
father, protecting humanity against its enemies. He is
extraordinarily intelligent and wise. He is an excellent
physician. He has thousands of medicines with him which can cure
all the diseases of Humanity.
Rudra has sometimes been identified with Agni. He has also been
described as the father of the Maruts, another class of Vedic
deities. Some of the names like Siva, Kapardin, Mahadeva and so
on, which have been used in the later mythological literature as
epithets of Siva have been used in the Rgveda also.
It is very difficult to say exactly which aspects of nature
Rudra represents.
Sometimes a group of minor deities called the Rudras is also
mentioned. They are eleven in number. They are actually the
principles of life (PraI:1as), the ten vital breaths and the
mind.
Rudras are also mentioned as eight in number and the eight
names-Bhava, Sarva, Isana, Pasupati, Bhlma, Ugra, Mahadeva along
with Rudra-represent the eight aspects of Rudra-Siva in later
literature.
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